We recently connected with Sheryle Gillihan and have shared our conversation below.

Sheryle, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Looking back, what’s an important lesson you learned at a prior job

There have been so many lessons from prior jobs that have helped me as a business owner. Many are important such as recognizing and valuing a person’s tenacity to learn and desire to contribute or teaching me how to show up with confidence and champion my work no matter how many dollar signs are sitting in the room. However, the story I want to share is one about winning, failing, and breaking the rules all in one day.

When I was in the Army, we often had uniform inspections. Even though it wasn’t something I enjoyed, I was very meticulous about shining my shoes and pressing my uniform. I’d have others help me check my rank positioning because I can’t ever pin anything straight. I am an over achiever and I try my best to be the best. It paid off because on this particular inspection day, I was called to the front of our company and our captain used my uniform as the example of perfect execution.

Later that afternoon we were doing PT and I was in my sweats like everyone else and doing well, but athletics are not my forte. I could decently outperform on sit-ups, but my push-ups were weak and my pull-ups were nonexistent. Also, some people can walk faster than I run. This is why I needed to excel in academics and present a perfectly pressed uniform. On this afternoon, I was called to the front of our company for a second time. Not because my run time was too slow. No, I was called out for breaking the rules. In the morning inspection with my cover (hat) on, our captain hadn’t seen my hair that I dyed the night before. But in my PT uniform, my hair glowed bright orange in the afternoon sun. In the Army we are not allowed to dye our hair unnatural colors. My captain called the color “toxic” and he basically called me out for breaking the rules, looking ridiculous, embarrassing our Company, and poor judgement.

In one day, I was held up as both perfect and perfectly flawed. I was the same person all day, performing the same duties, and yet perception was everything. While the events were minor in the grand scheme of things, the extremes of accepting both a proud win alongside a demeaning failure in the span of less than 8 hours taught me a few things.

First, it taught me that my win did not matter any less because I also failed. They were separate and unrelated incidents and my win was still a success I could be proud of.

Second, it taught me that being called out on my failure stung, but the failure didn’t define me and I moved on.

Lastly, I learned more about myself. I learned that I am likely to continue breaking and bending the rules. I like to understand the reasons, reshape perceptions, and challenge limitations. I have strong opinions, but I am also open to learning and reshaping my own perspective on a topic once I’ve had more exposure or learned more information.

Sheryle, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I didn’t plan to be a business owner, but now that I am, I love the ability to create the impact I’ve been able to create through our company. Even though I’ve been with my company since 2010, I’ve only been an owner since 2018 when Michael and I accepted the opportunity to acquire the original company. We formed a new Texas-based public benefit corporation and bought the Delaware-based CauseLabs. It was a somewhat seamless transition, but it does make it hard for me to see myself as a founder. One colleague of mine shared that I am the founder of what CauseLabs has become. This resonated with me because I have been here for the many iterations and evolutions of the company over the past decade and now we’re setting the vision for what’s ahead.

CauseLabs at its core is a web agency using technology and business as a force for good. With more than 15 years of technology experience and expertise, we help companies scale their impact through strategy, design, and development. Our mission is to grow positive impact and we achieve this through our day-to-day operations as well as all of our service offerings from working on nonprofit website redesigns, building custom platforms to better engage and serve communities, offering green hosting options, and creating more accessible websites. This goal means using technology for business growth as well as equalizing inequities in the world, providing opportunity, educating our next generation of leaders, and helping us become better global citizens.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

I did not think it would be a challenge to get the funding to buy a business. Even with excellent credit, there was a lot of due diligence that needed to be done around the projected business financials, past contracts, average size and tenure of a client, etc. I did not anticipate needing to put down a large down payment. In fact, I had an assumption that it was understood that I needed a loan because I did not have a lot of cash in the bank. I also did not expect rejection from banks because my loan request was not large enough. This really surprised me.

With the help of the Fort Worth SBDC and Cle Royal, the mentor they paired me with, I was connected to a lender that saw my business as a potential for community and global impact. Working with Community Reinvestment Fund for my business acquisition is one of the best decisions I made early on. They listened to my story, guided me through the process, and continue to support our business today even after our loan is fully paid.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Presence and partnerships have been the key to building my reputation within my market. The first thing I needed to do was show up. Even if I wasn’t ready to present or even when I felt I didn’t know much about the sector, showing up was crucial. It seems easy to do, but it can feel like a real hurdle when you don’t quite feel ready to step into your role as a leader. Once I established presence and was seen in the space, speaking and presenting were the next steps. I decided not to sell in my presentations. It was not about winning, but about championing the good work that could and would be accomplished with my team or with like-minded agencies. My goal was to build partnerships and to be known as a collaborator for human-centered, purpose-driven web design and development. There were many agencies with bigger brands than my own. Working with these agencies as a partner helped build my brand and my reputation. I championed the work and the potential impact, not just my company. I focused more on thought leadership than on sales, but that led to the right opportunities.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://causelabs.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/causelabs
• Facebook: https://causelabs.com/causelabs
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/causelabs-pbc
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/causelabs
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClJEG4IxDV8uPPHREzKLkXA